Klarinet Archive - Posting 000931.txt from 2000/12

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Reeds
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 00:18:05 -0500

on 12/14/00 11:30 AM, Bilwright@-----.net wrote:

> I know this is 'old hat' to experienced clarinetists, and all the
>textbooks reiterate this point, but when I tried for the the first time
>to soften a 'board-like' reed, I was astonished at how tiny an amount of
>scraping is required to alter the reed *if* you scrape at the correct
>place.
> Of course, there's more than one factor at work on any particular
>day (humidity, my embouchure today, etc).
>
> I'd also like to say that Jack Brymer's book "Clarinet" has the
>most meaningful diagram that I've found (pg. 118 in the paperback
>edition) as to exactly which areas have which effect on a reed. His
>entire discussion of reed adjusting is only 3 or 4 pages long, and it
>leaves me with a sense of perspective -- namely, which things are really
>important if you're just learning, and which aren't.

Before this thread gets way too long in the tooth, let me recommend Larry
Guy's "Selecting and Adjusting Single Reeds" for those who want some good
ideas about reed work. Included is a 10 day plan for breaking in new
reeds, which will at least provide a jumping off point for finding a
break-in cycle that works for you. Van Cott Information Services (a
Sneezy sponsor) has this book, and also a book about embouchure building
by Larry Guy, which is more about the interaction of air and embouchure,
with practical exercises. I like both of these books (for what that may
be worth, which may be nothing!)

>I'm also discovering how valuable a tool an inexpensive '4x' loupe
>is ($7 from the local camera store). Some of these reeds have raised
>grain and other irregularities that are barely visible to the naked eye,
>but when you look at the reed through the loupe, the visible differences
>between reeds (that play well vs. reeds that play poorly) jump out at
>you.

Can you characterize some of these irregularities? I often find that
reeds which, even to the naked eye, seem to be quite irregular, will play
fine when put on the mouthpiece. Therefore I'm reluctant to make any kind
of judgment about a reed based on visual inspection only. For me, they
either play of they don't. If they don't, I may try a few tricks to get
them to play better, before I run out of experimentation time and pitch
them.

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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